Fresh, Locally Made Salsa Spices up Granby, East Granby

Granby and East Granby residents looking for fresh, raw salsa made locally have a convenient option in East Granby's Salsa Loca.

Bob Kane, a Canton resident and son of Simsbury’s Kane's Market owner Bob Kane, brought back the idea for a natural, organic product after a stint as a food representative in Utah. After promoting conventional salsas that either contained a host of preservatives or were heated to remove bacteria, Salsa Loca's Bob Kane was convinced he had a profitable and desired product concept on his hands.

"I'm definitely a food person," Kane said.

Kane pointed out that there are, broadly, two types of commercially produced salsa: “fresh” salsa, that often contains preservatives that allow it to remain shelf-stable for months but also diminish the taste of the condiment, and jarred salsa, which is cooked to remove bacteria and is more akin to tomato sauce than fresh salsa.

“The taste just isn’t there,” Kane said.

Salsa Loca’s consistently fresh salsa contains no preservatives beyond natural ingredients like lime juice, cilantro and a few others. Salsa Loca’s salsa uses organic apple cider vinegar as well.

“It’s a raw product,” he said.

His products source as many of their ingredients locally as is feasible. Suffield’s Hastings Farm and East Granby’s Young Farm are two of the local providers for product ingredients.

After moving back to the Farmington Valley, Kane started making and selling his salsa at Kane’s Market, where he realized he had found a connection with consumers.

“The customers were digging it,” he said.

After expanding into other local supermarkets, grocery stores and farm stores – like Fitzgerald’s in Simsbury, Wade’s in Bloomfield, Highland Park Market in Farmington and – Kane had a full-fledged business on his hands.

While the business side of operations is never easy, “It’s tougher than I thought it would be,” he said, although he did note that when his salsa is selling, the summer is fun. He relishes the creation of a healthy, locally sourced and produced food enjoyed by many.

“Making new salsa and creating products is easy,” he said.

Kane’s personal favorites are Salsa Loca’s hot salsa, mango salsa and guacamole. Best sellers include the guacamole as well, along with the “just right” salsa, which is a step hotter than the mild variety.

The newest version planned for Salsa Loca is a peach salsa, with fruit sourced from Granby’s Bushy Hill Orchard and Simsbury’s Rosedale Farms.

Kane produces the salsa in the Kane’s kitchen in East Granby, where he shares space with Kane’s catering business.

For more information on Salsa Loca, including many of the markets it is sold in, visit its website.